Bradley men’s golf hit the bunker with a second-to-last finish. In its first action of the spring season at the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate this week.
Hosted by North Carolina-Greensboro in Palm City, Florida senior Josh Kirkham paved the way for Bradley by carding a four-over-par 220 that continued to display his improvement from last semester.
Kirkham finished the tournament tied for 18th place while getting better in each round. The senior ace started with a first round 78, followed it with an even-par 72 and ended with a two-under-par 70 in the third round.
“I stayed patient with my scorecard,” Kirkham said. “I hit 32 of 36 greens in the second and third rounds, which gave myself a lot of good chances.”
Finishing behind Kirkham was fellow senior Roy Radke with an 18-over-par 234. Radke placed just in front of his freshman teammate Connor Hamm, who finished with a 238 while graduate Luke Armburst and senior John Stillman finished with scores of 240 and 245, respectively.
Bradley head coach Jeff Roche spoke on the upsides of finally being back outside and playing within the wind, heat and terrain elements.
“It gave us a chance to see what we need to clean up [while] getting the mindset comfortable with shooting low scores again,” Roche said.
The Braves finished in 18th but are ready to return to the course to improve upon their first outing of the season. Before they head to Mississippi for their next tournament, Roche has set a goal for where the Braves need to finish if they want to get the ball rolling.
“We need to finish in the top half of the tournament at least to start building some momentum and confidence,” Roche said.
Bradley men’s golf will head down to Diamondhead, Mississippi for the Gulf Coast Collegiate. The first round tees off on Monday, Feb. 27.
